Sony announced today that it is officially halting the sale of PlayStation products—including PS5s and Gran Turismo 7—in Russia following its war on Ukraine. This comes after similar decisions by other major gaming companies including Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and EA.
“Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” the company said in a statement today. “We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.” The company also said it will be donating $2 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children to “support the victims of this tragedy.”
Sony’s decision follows a wave of gaming boycotts of Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has reportedly killed over 400 civilians so far, beginning last week with CD Projekt Red, developer of The Witcher 3. On March 2, less than a week into the invasion, Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on both Xbox and PlayStation to ban users from Russia. Microsoft responded a few days later by announcing a ban on sales of new products and services in the country. Activision Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft, and others have since followed suit.
Earlier today, Nintendo announced it would indefinitely delay the release of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp due to “recent world events” and told Kotaku in a statement it wanted to “express concern for all those affected by the conflict.”
The war has already led over 2 million refugees to flee Ukraine, and Polygon reports that some of the country’s game developers are among those volunteering to fight invading Russian forces. In addition to big companies like Sega and Koei Tecmo donating to humanitarian efforts, indie developers put together a “Bundle for Ukraine” on the itch.io game store that includes almost 1,000 games for just $10. The bundle raised over $1.6 million in just its first day.